McCain to Michigan: Check you later!

The McCain camp pulls out of Michigan:  

Senator John McCain is giving up on his efforts to win the state of Michigan, his campaign said Thursday, in the latest sign that the faltering economy has reshaped the presidential race and cost Mr. McCain support in crucial states.

Ceding Michigan is a major blow to the McCain campaign, which had spent heavily on television commercials there and where Mr. McCain had campaigned repeatedly in the hopes that he could appeal to enough blue-collar voters, so-called Reagan Democrats and independent voters, to bring the state back into the Republican column in November.

... The McCain campaign's withdrawal will free the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, to redirect some of his resources from Michigan to several states that President Bush won in 2004 but where recent polls show Mr. Obama gaining ground, including Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

That's even better news for our strong slate of pro-choice candidates running in Michigan.

Still, the Obama campaign, rightfully so, remains cautious:

"I don't understand this," Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said. "We're not going to take anything for granted in Michigan."